Draft:Ghanima
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Ghanima (Arabic: غَنِيمة), or War Booty, refers to the assets acquired by Muslims during warfare against disbelievers. Jurists stipulate two primary conditions for the possession of war booty: the conflict must be conducted under the mandate of the Imam or his deputy, and the property must be seized through combat rather than peace treaties.
According to the fatwas of Shi'a jurists, immovable spoils constitute public property belonging to the Muslim community, whereas movable assets are distributed among the combatants after the deduction of khums. Some contemporary jurists argue that the traditional rulings regarding the division of spoils are no longer applicable in the modern era. Historically, combatants were responsible for procuring their own weaponry and provisions, justifying their entitlement to the booty. In contrast, modern states assume the financial burden of war, including the salaries of mujahideen and military personnel.
Conceptology
Linguistically, *ghanima* signifies "acquired benefit" or "gain,"[1] encompassing property obtained through war as well as profits accrued via other activities, such as trade.[2] In narrations, the term is frequently employed to denote general profit in addition to war booty,[3] a usage that jurists have adopted in their legal rulings.[4]
In the Khums Verse, which mandates the khums tax on spoils, "ghanima" is utilized in the sense of absolute profit rather than being restricted solely to spoils of war.[5] Husayn 'Ali Montazeri, a prominent Shi'a jurist, maintains that while the term is predominantly associated with war booty, its literal, broader definition retains validity.[6]
Difference with Fay'
Fay' and *ghanima* share a common origin as property acquired from polytheists.[7] The distinction lies in the method of acquisition: assets gained without armed conflict are classified as *fay'*, while those seized following battle are termed *ghanima*.[8]
War Booty
In legal terminology, war spoils encompass movable property, immovable property, and captives secured during wars.[9] The Qur'an explicitly affirms the licitness of such spoils, stating: "So consume what you have taken of war booty, [as being] lawful and good."[10] Furthermore, pursuant to Qur'an 8:41, one-fifth of the spoils must be set aside as khums, with the remainder distributed among the combatants.[11]
Qur'an 4:94 admonishes Muslims against participating in warfare solely out of avarice for booty,[12] mandating that they acknowledge an enemy's initial declaration of Faith, even if it results in the forfeiture of spoils. The verse underscores that the primary objective of jihad is not material accumulation.[13]
The utilization of war booty is subject to specific conditions: the conflict must be authorized by the Infallible Imam or his representative (a fully qualified jurist),[14] and the assets must be acquired through combat; property transferred via peace treaties does not carry the legal status of *ghanima*.[15]
Booty in War with Muslims
The jurisprudence concerning booty taken from Muslims first emerged during the Battle of Jamal, the inaugural conflict between two Muslim factions.[16] In this engagement, Imam Ali (a) prohibited his troops from seizing the property of the opposing Muslims, permitting the confiscation of only the weapons and mounts utilized in combat.[17] This directive, which restricted spoils to military equipment, provoked debate and dissent among some soldiers who argued for a broader entitlement to the enemy's property.[18]
Ruling on the Division of Spoils
Jurists hold that in the apportionment of war spoils, immovable property belongs to the general public,[19] while movable assets are distributed among the combatants following the deduction of khums.[20] The prevailing opinion among Shi'a jurists is that a combatant's share is contingent upon the nature of their participation;[21] for instance, infantrymen receive one share, cavalrymen with one horse receive two, and those with multiple horses receive three.[22] Additionally, Shi'a jurists maintain[23] that Bedouins (individuals uninstructed in the nuances of Islam) participating in war are not inherently entitled to a share; rather, the Imam may grant them a portion based on discretion and expediency.[24] Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Ruhani further emphasizes that an individual's lineage or social status has no bearing on the quantum of their allotted share.[25]
Ghanima in the Present Era
During the occultation of the Infallible Imam, the seizure of *ghanima* is deemed permissible provided it is authorized by a just Islamic government.[26] Some contemporary scholars, such as Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, have revisited the concept of *ghanima*, arguing that in modern contexts, it should not encompass private civilian property but be limited to state-owned assets.[27] Furthermore, according to Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, since modern states bear the costs of warfare and military salaries, the traditional rulings regarding the distribution of spoils among soldiers are no longer applicable.[28] Others contend that even if the seizure of booty is permitted, this ruling does not extend to heavy weaponry, which must be surrendered to the state.[29]
Notes
- ↑ Ṭurayḥī, Majma' al-Baḥrayn, 1375 Sh, vol. 6, p. 129.
- ↑ Muṣṭafawī, al-Taḥqīq, 1360 Sh, vol. 12, p. 2102.
- ↑ "Manẓūr az Ghanīmat Chīst?", Official base of Muḥammad Muḥammadī Rey-shahrī.
- ↑ Shīrāzī, al-Ta'līqāt 'alā Sharā'i' al-Islām, 1425 AH, vol. 1, pp. 23-25.
- ↑ Ṭabarsī, Majma' al-Bayān, 1415 AH, vol. 4, p. 468.
- ↑ Muntaẓirī, Kitāb al-Khums wa al-Anfāl, Qom, p. 9.
- ↑ Khalkhālī, Fiqh al-Shī'a: Kitāb al-Khums wa al-Anfāl, 1427 AH, vol. 3, p. 27.
- ↑ Mishkīnī, Muṣṭalaḥāt al-Fiqh, 1419 AH, p. 396.
- ↑ Jawāhirī, "Ghanīmat", vol. 12, p. 131.
- ↑ Qur'an 8:69.
- ↑ Muḥaqqiqiyān, "Ghanīmat", p. 953.
- ↑ Qur'an 4:94.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i Nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 4, p. 74.
- ↑ Shīrāzī, al-Masā'il al-Muntakhabat, problem 1023, p. 259.
- ↑ Maḥmūd ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Mu'jam al-Muṣṭalaḥāt wa al-Alfāẓ al-Fiqhiyya, 1419 AH, vol. 3, p. 24.
- ↑ Dilshād Tihrānī, Sawdā-yi Peymān-shikanān, 1394 Sh, p. 14.
- ↑ Dīnawarī, al-Akhbār al-Ṭiwāl, 1368 Sh, p. 151.
- ↑ al-Sayyid al-Murtaḍā, Tanzīh al-Anbiyā', 1377 Sh, pp. 155-156.
- ↑ Rūḥānī, Minhāj al-Ṣāliḥīn, vol. 1, p. 512.
- ↑ Imām Khumaynī, Tawḍīḥ al-Masā'il, 1424 AH, vol. 2, p. 787.
- ↑ Muntaẓirī, Dirāsāt fī Wilāyat al-Faqīh wa Fiqh al-Dawlat al-Islāmiyya, 1409 AH, vol. 3, p. 159.
- ↑ Shīrāzī, al-Masā'il al-Muntakhabat, problem 1174, p. 289.
- ↑ Ṣaymarī, Ghāyat al-Marām, 1420 AH, vol. 1, p. 526.
- ↑ ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Irshād al-Adhhān, 1410 AH, vol. 1, p. 346.
- ↑ Rūḥānī, Fiqh al-Ṣādiq (a), 1412 AH, vol. 13, p. 131.
- ↑ Muntaẓirī, al-Aḥkām al-Sharʿiyya ʿalā Madhhab Ahl al-Bayt, 1413 AH, p. 325.
- ↑ ʿAẓīmī Tustarī, "al-Qawānīn al-ʿĀmma li-l-Ḥarb wa al-Difāʿ fī al-Islām", p. 233.
- ↑ "Ghanā'im al-Ḥarb", Bayynat site.
- ↑ ʿAẓīmī Tustarī, "al-Qawānīn al-ʿĀmma li-l-Ḥarb wa al-Difāʿ fī al-Islām", p. 234.
References
- "283 - Manẓūr az Ghanīmat Chīst?", Official base of Muḥammad Muḥammadī Rey-shahrī, February 17, 2014.
- Imām Khumaynī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Tawḍīḥ al-Masā'il (Muḥashshā). Compiled by Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn Banī-Hāshimī Khumaynī. 8th ed. Qom: Islamic Publication Office, 1424 AH.
- Imāmī, Sayyid Ḥasan. Ḥuqūq-i Madanī. Tehran: Islamiyya, n.d.
- Jawāhirī, Maryam. "Ghanīmat". In Dā'irat al-Ma'ārif-i Tashayyu' , vol. 12. Qom: Hikmat, 1375 Sh.
- Mūsawī Khalkhālī, Sayyid Muḥammad Mahdī. Fiqh al-Shī'a: Kitāb al-Khums wa al-Anfāl. Qom: Dār al-Bashīr, 1427 AH.
- Dilshād Tihrānī, Muṣṭafā. Sawdā-yi Peymān-shikanān: Taḥlīl-i Fitni-yi Jamal bā Takyih bar Nahj al-Balāgha. Tehran: Darya, 1394 Sh.
- Dīnawarī, Abū Ḥanīfa Aḥmad b. Dāwūd. al-Akhbār al-Ṭiwāl. Qom: Manshurat al-Radi, 1368 Sh.
- Rūḥānī, Sayyid Ṣādiq. Minhāj al-Ṣāliḥīn. n.p.: n.p., n.d.
- Rūḥānī, Sayyid Ṣādiq. Fiqh al-Ṣādiq (a). Qom: Dār al-Kitāb, 1412 AH.
- Sayyid al-Murtaḍā (ʿAlam al-Hudā), ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn. Tanzīh al-Anbiyā' ʿAlayhim al-Salām. 1st ed. Qom: Dar al-Sharif al-Radi, 1377 Sh.
- Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī. Masālik al-Afhām ilā Tanqīḥ Sharā'i' al-Islām. 1st ed. Qom: Mu'assisat al-Ma'arif al-Islamiyya, 1413 AH.
- Shīrāzī, Sayyid Ṣādiq Ḥusaynī. al-Ta'līqāt 'alā Sharā'i' al-Islām. Qom: Istiqlāl, 1425 AH.
- Shīrāzī, Sayyid Ṣādiq Ḥusaynī. al-Masā'il al-Muntakhabat. n.p.: n.p., n.d.
- Ṣaymarī, Miflaḥ b. Ḥasan (Ḥusayn). Ghāyat al-Marām fī Sharḥ Sharā'i' al-Islām. Edited by Ja'far Kawtharānī ʿĀmilī. 1st ed. Beirut: Dār al-Hādī, 1420 AH.
- Ṭabarsī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan. Majma' al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qur'an. Introduction by Muḥammad Jawād Balāghī. 3rd ed. Tehran: Nasir Khosrow, 1372 Sh.
- Ṭurayḥī, Fakhr al-Dīn. Majma' al-Baḥrayn. Edited by Sayyid Aḥmad Ḥusaynī. 3rd ed. Tehran: Kitabfurushi Murtadawi, 1375 Sh.
- ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. Yūsuf. Irshād al-Adhhān ilā Aḥkām al-Īmān. Edited by Fāris Ḥassūn. 1st ed. Qom: Islamic Publication Office, 1410 AH.
- ʿAẓīmī Tustarī, ʿAbbās ʿAlī. "al-Qawānīn al-ʿĀmma li-l-Ḥarb wa al-Difāʿ fī al-Islām". Majallat Fiqh Ahl al-Bayt, Qom, no. 32, n.d.
- Ghulāmī, Yūsuf. "Futūḥāt-i Dawri-yi Khulafā (Angīzih-hā wa Payāmad-hā)". Farhang-i Kawthar, no. 47, 1379 Sh.
- "Ghanā'im al-Ḥarb", Official site of the Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn Faḍl Allāh Institute, June 20, 2020.
- Muḥaqqiqiyān, Riḍā. "Ghanīmat". In Dānishnāmi-yi Mu'āṣir-i Qur'an-i Karīm. Edited by Sayyid Salmān Ṣafawī. Qom: Salman-zada, 1396 Sh.
- Maḥmūd ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, ʿAbd al-Mun'im. Mu'jam al-Muṣṭalaḥāt wa al-Alfāẓ al-Fiqhiyya. Cairo: Dar al-Fadila, 1419 AH.
- Mishkīnī, Mīrzā ʿAlī. Muṣṭalaḥāt al-Fiqh. n.p.: n.p., 1419 AH.
- Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan. al-Taḥqīq fī Kalimāt al-Qur'an al-Karīm. Tehran: Bungah-i Tarjuma wa Nashr-i Kitab, 1360 Sh.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i Nimūna. 1st ed. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
- Muntaẓirī, Ḥusayn-ʿalī. Dirāsāt fī Wilāyat al-Faqīh wa Fiqh al-Dawlat al-Islāmiyya. Qom: Nashr-i Tafakkur, 1409 AH.
- Muntaẓirī, Ḥusayn-ʿalī. al-Aḥkām al-Sharʿiyya ʿalā Madhhab Ahl al-Bayt (a). Qom: Nashr-i Tafakkur, 1413 AH.
- Muntaẓirī, Ḥusayn-ʿalī. Kitāb al-Khums wa al-Anfāl. Qom: n.p., n.d.